Warhammer 40,000 Fanon Wiki:How to make a Fanon Astra Militarum Regiment
This is a guide for those who wish to create their own Fanon Imperial Guard Regiment. The hardest part in the creation of your own Imperial Guard Regiment is coming up with something original, insightful, with excellent characterization and something that hasn't been done already a million times before. Below, this guide presents the background, structure, organisation and equipment utilised by the massive organisation of the regiments of the fighting men and women of the Imperial Guard. Background The Imperial Guard, also known as the Astra Militarum, is a colossal organisation, dwarfing every other military force in the Imperium for sheer manpower, and matched only by the Imperial Navy in logistical complexity and universal significance. It has been claimed that for every star visible from the surface of Holy Terra, there are a hundred million Imperial Guardsmen waging war on some distant world in the Emperor’s name, though nobody could possibly know how many Imperial Guardsmen there truly are at any one moment, so vast are their numbers and so quickly do those numbers change. However, what is certain is that every one of these brave souls, and more besides, are required to fight and die for the Imperium in order to try to preserve it. The Imperial Army The origins of the Imperial Guard date back to the time of the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium when the Emperor of Mankind conquered a large swathe of the galaxy and forged the Imperium of Man. As the Great Crusade progressed and more worlds needed to be liberated, the Imperium's need for more troops increased dramatically. Even the mighty superhuman armies of the Legiones Astartes could not alone complete the task at hand. This gave rise to the creation of the Imperial Army, known formally as the Imperialis Auxilia and the Excertus Imperialis respectively (the hosts of the Imperial Army and its auxiliaries). This was the Imperial military force comprised of normal men and women that served as the ancestor of the modern Imperial Guard of the late 41st Millennium. It was therefore decreed that each of the liberated worlds would supply men-at-arms to bolster the war effort. Although not as powerful as the Space Marine Legions under the various Primarchs' command, the Imperial Army regiments were nevertheless useful additions to the Astartes' fighting strength. Unlike in the present-day Imperium, where the Imperial Guard serves as Mankind's front-line armed force in the defence of the Emperor's realm, the Imperial Army was never anything more than a reserve force for the Imperium during the Great Crusade, and its troops were usually tasked with garrison duty or mopping-up operations. Only in the last decades of that great campaign did Imperial Army troops finally fight directly alongside the forces of one of the ancient Space Marine Legions on campaign. In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium, a great reform of the Imperium's bureaucratic and military structure was undertaken at the behest of Ultramarines' Primarch Roboute Guilliman. To prevent the possibility of a large-scale interstellar rebellion from consuming the human-settled galaxy again, the titanic armies of the Imperium were divided into three basic parts. The elite force of transhuman warriors of the fractured Space Marine Legions were sundered into smaller existing formations, known as Chapters, and would now be know as the Adeptus Astartes. The Imperial Army ceased to exist and the link between fleet and army was permanently severed. War in the depth of space would be the responsibility of the Imperial Navy, while any and all operations conducted on planetary surfaces would fall to the Imperial Guard. Commissars were introduced: men and women who were trained and indoctrinated as incorruptible watchdogs, arbiters of Imperial authority who would ensure the swift and public execution of cowards and malcontents. Shorn of their autonomy and watched closely for disloyalty, the newly renamed Imperial Guard were now a codependent organisation. Operations, structure and command were brutally compartmentalised. Trust and flexibility were sacrificed. Rebellions and insurrections against Imperial authority might be inevitable, but now they would be isolated, fragmented, and swiftly crushed. What Is A Regiment? The matter of assembling and arming the uncountable masses of Guardsmen is the responsibility of the Departmento Munitorum, a department within the Adeptus Administratum responsible for military logistics across the Imperium. Some have claimed that the numbers of the Imperial Guard are matched or even exceeded by the sheer number of scribes, adepts, prefects, and a bewildering array of other administrative officials, whose duty it is to ensure that the Imperial Guard are able to fight their countless wars. In their hands is the impossibly complex task of raising armies from a million worlds, equipping them in an appropriate manner, and ensuring that every man and woman is fed, watered, and supplied with ammunition. What this all boils down to is the regiment. The regiment is the building block of the Imperial Guard, and the nature of each regiment defines how it is to fight, how it is to be equipped, and the manner in which it is best employed. Regiments are raised either as part of the tithe that all worlds contribute to the Imperium, or as necessary from worlds within a particular distance of a newly-opened warzone. It is a rare world in the Imperium that has not raised at least one regiment of Imperial Guard, with the overwhelming majority of those being the tithe-exempt forge worlds and the home worlds of the Adeptus Astartes, both of which produce their own particular fighting forces. An Imperial Guard Regiment is defined in large part by the regiment they belong to - their outlook, their training, and their equipment are shaped primarily by the world and the regiment they hail from, and these factors will define the regiment's Guardsmen for their entire career. Chain of Command The tenets of centralised Imperial strategy are set by the High Lords of Terra themselves. The Lord Commander Militant passes on the dictates of this august gathering to Segmentum Command, who in turn hold responsibility for operations within their own designated regions of the Imperium. In practice, the distance and scale involved in the Imperium's wars render such centralised command elements little more than out of touch figureheads. Tales abound of Astropathic messages being received wildly out of sync with the events to which they pertain. During the infamous War of Foretelling, the Vonost System faced a questing tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Despite initial successes, Imperial efforts were crippled after temporal distortion caused all of Segmentum Command's orders for the entire war to arrive in a single, garbled message. Compelled at gunpoint by the hidebound Commissar Teitzin to follow their orders to the letter, Segmentum Command's strategy fell apart in horrific fashion and Vonost was lost in less than a solar month. Were frontline officers to await and obey the word of their remote superiors in all matters, Mankind would be swiftly overrun. Instead, the practicalities of command fall to the officer of highest rank in any given Imperial theatre of war. Though assigned the Munitorum rank of General, native honorifics such as Lord Marshal or High Chenzin are often maintained. These officers are supported by a cadre of loyal personnel who between them comprise localised high command. Individual generals vary enormously in their approach, some coordinating their forces from well behind the lines -- possibly even from low orbit -- while others take to the field amid dedicated retinues of bodyguards. Surrounded by the chatter of servo-skulls, the whispering scratch of auto-quills, and the barking voices of subordinates, wreathed in the reek of promethium-smoke and holy censers, these men direct their mighty armies to victory in the Emperor's name There is another rank available to the Imperial Guard, one outside of the conventional strategic command structure. This title, affording absolute authority over all but the most exalted Imperial forces, is that of Warmaster. Such power can only be granted by the High Lords themselves. Stigma and superstition often sees this rank renamed, most famously to Lord Solar, and it is rare to see more than one Warmaster in any given stretch of centuries. Such men lead star-spanning Imperial Crusades, or else the defence of entire Imperial Segmentums. Even the humblest Imperial Guardsmen outrank their counterparts who serve in the fighting forces of their homeworld, the Planetary Defence Forces or PDF; indeed, many veterans look down on those regiments whose only duty is to defend their own planet. These forces are perceived by some Guardsmen as having little combat experience. This is, of course, far from the truth, for the Imperium of Man is beset on all fronts. The relentless raids of pirates and encroachments by aliens are continually opposed by every planet's own military forces. Standing firm in the face of brutal horrors, these brave PDF soldiers fight and die just as well as their comrades in the Imperial Guard, but without the glories and honours won on distant worlds. Anatomy of a Regiment Though regarded as such by many within the Departmento Munitorum, a regiment is not a uniform mass of warriors, equal in might and utility to every other regiment. On the contrary, regiments vary immensely in size, structure, and purpose, from small, deadly, armoured regiments, to bewilderingly large regiments of siege infantry. In truth, the regiment is a difficult thing to define, but some might classify it thusly: a regiment is the operational unit of the Imperial Guard, a discrete formation of Imperial Guardsmen, all trained and equipped to operate in a single way (i.e. artillery, infantry, armour, or specialists such as Abhumans), and all drawn from a single world. Though each regiment can consist of between three and twenty companies, and may number from a couple of hundred men to tens of thousands, it is a rare regiment that is trained in more than one of the doctrines of warfare practised by the Imperial Guard. To the casual observer this may seem a weakness, as regiments are, by necessity, compelled to rely upon one another for the combined-arms approach advocated by the Tactica Imperium. However, this lack of autonomy is another measure to prevent rebellion, ensuring that even if a whole regiment turns from the light of the Emperor, their lack of versatility will soon see them brought to heel and punished for their disloyalty. All other factors are subject to local variation and prevailing logistical doctrine - at times, all the fighting men taken from a single world at a single time have been classified as a single regiment, creating units of millions of men, while other periods and places have attempted to define a set number of warriors or an arbitrarily calculated fighting strength to determine a regiment. Some planets are able to raise a variety of regiments. Cadia or Armageddon, for example, are huge worlds embroiled in seemingly endless wars whose populace are given ample opportunity to train in various aspects of warfare. By comparison, other worlds take great and often justifiable pride in their reputation for training a specific kind of regiment to exceptional standards. The pale-skinned, dark-eyed stealth infantry of the Night World Prometheron or the clockwork discipline of the Kalatian artillery brigades are excellent examples of this. Feral or Feudal Worlds, on the other hand, often provide only infantry or Rough Rider regiments, thus circumventing a huge potential culture shock. Nonetheless, some elements remain consistent. At the top of every regiment in the Imperial Guard is a single officer, commonly given the rank of Colonel, who serves as the frontline commander. Traditional expectations are that a Colonel takes to the field with his men, leading in person, and is often accompanied by advisors such as Imperial Navy liaisons, preachers, psykers, Tech-Priests, and the dreaded Commissars. Each regiment is typically divided into several companies, each of which is commanded by a Captain or Major. A company normally consists of several hundred warriors, and can serve well as a fighting unit in its own right, with individual companies commonly split off to achieve distinct objectives pertaining to a regiment's overall mission. Within each company, the unit is further divided. The exact term used varies by type of company, with vehicle companies divided into squadrons, infantry operating in platoons, and artillery operating in batteries. Each platoon, squadron, or battery is typically commanded by a Lieutenant, the most junior of officers, new to the service of the Imperial Guard. The most basic building block of the regiment is the squad. In an infantry regiment, the squad is the smallest operational unit, overseen by a Sergeant. In an armoured or artillery regiment, each squad is given a single vehicle or artillery piece to control, with different soldiers serving as gunners, loaders, drivers, spotters, and a variety of other roles, as required by their duties. Imperial Guard Rank Hierarchy The military organisation of the Imperial Guard is a simple, hierarchical chain of command to which blind adhesion is required, especially from the lower ranks. Independent thinking and action is at best frowned upon, and at worst sanctioned by death. This one-way immutable decision structure is the only method that has proven efficient in coordinating the gargantuan resources necessary for the correct deployment of the Imperial Guard in a given war zone. The main issues of confusion and lack of cohesion within the Imperial Guard's hierarchy come from the interdependence of the Imperial Guard with the Imperial Navy and the Adeptus Administratum's Departmento Munitorum. Indeed, following the Horus Heresy, the Primarch Roboute Guilliman made sure that no single individual would ever again have enough military power to threaten the stability of the Imperium. Thus, the Imperial Guard furnishes the manpower, the Departmento Munitorum furnishes the materiel and the Imperial Navy ensures air superiority and transports both men and weapons to their objective without intervening directly on the ground other than providing air support. The arrangement has proven effective, but politicking amongst Imperial officers can lead to confusion in the chain of command as they vie for seniority and the most prestigious assignments. It is one of the roles of the Commissariat to ensure, by force of arms if necessary, that the Imperial military's chain of command always remains clear and operationally efficient. From highest to lowest, the ranks of the Imperial Guard include: *'Lord Commander Militant' (supreme commander of the Imperial Guard and a High Lord of Terra) *'Warmaster (Lord Solar)' (special rank only bestowed upon a general officer who leads an Imperial Crusade) *'Lord Commander' (supreme military commander of one of the five Imperial Segmentae) *'Lord General Militant' (supreme military commander of a designated theatre of operations) *'General' (various different titles for this rank exist. Leader of multiple regiments in an army group) *'Colonel' (various different titles for this rank exist. Leader of a regiment or equivalent formation) *'Major ' *'Captain' (various different titles for this rank exist. Leader of a company or equivalent formation) *'Lieutenant' (Leader of a platoon or equivalent formation) *'Sergeant' (Leader of a basic Squad) *'Corporal' *'Trooper' (Rank and file soldier) *'Commissars, Priests of the Ecclesiarchy, Tech-priests, Sanctioned Psykers, Inquisitors' (All have no official rank in the Imperial Guard) High Command Since the dark days after the end of the Horus Heresy when the Imperial Reformation was completed by Robute Guilliman, the Imperial Guard has been controlled jointly by the Chancellor of the Estate Imperium, the Master of the Administratum and the Lord Commander Militant of the Imperial Guard. These three High Lords of Terra represent the top of the chain of command for the Imperium as a whole. In matters of strategy, it is the Lord Commander Militant who is the supreme commander of the Imperial Guard, and he is directly assisted by the five Lord Commanders of the Imperial Guard, one for each of the five Segmentae of the Imperium. Since most of the time of the Lord Commander Militant is occupied defending the Imperial Guard's interests in the Senatorum Imperialis, it falls to the Lords Commander Solar, Pacificus, Tempestus, Obscurus and Ultima to ensure the correct day-to-day deployment of the Imperial Guard in their Segmentum. The highest "conventional" rank reachable in the Guard is that of Lord General Militant, the highest rank above the General Staff corps. This rank brings with it command of armies of almost limitless number, and the responsibility for command of a whole theatre of operations. It is the duty of the Lord General Militant to not only ensure military objectives are met, if necessary by negotiating for the assistance of the Adeptus Astartes, but also to ensure that the retaken or defended territories quickly return to the fold of the Administratum and the Ecclesiarchy. It is an uneasy rank to bear, for not only must the Lord General Militant be a keen strategist, he must also be a good politician and have the courage to stand up to the priests of the Ecclesiarchy or even to a Space Marine Chapter Master when necessary. General Staff The General Staff of the Imperial Guard is not a coherent organisation; the term is principally used to describe all general officers who serve in the command echelons above those of regimental level. The Imperial General Staff serves the Lord General Militant directly. It is a highly decentralised formation, with its officers present in every battle theatre in the Imperium. Most members of the General Staff bear the rank of General (or the cultural equivalent depending on their homeworld of origin) and each of these men is in command of a battlegroup or multi-regiment force. It is the task of the General Staff to ensure that their objective is met, that the men under their command work efficiently together despite sometimes wildly varying origins and home cultures and that they work well with the forces of the Adeptus Astartes and the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas when they are present. More junior officers can also be found in the General Staff; they are drawn from individual regiments to act as aides and administrative assistants. They do not exercise individual authority over other troops and merely act as conduits between their direct superiors and other officers. A position common in the General Staff is that of Imperial Tactician, a non-command rank that nevertheless is vital. As trained staff officers, Tacticians help to devise and organise battle plans and strategy. Operating in parallel to this command tree is that of the other Imperial organisations the Imperial Guard comes into contact with, principally that of the Commissariat. Commissars are integral parts of the Imperial Guard command echelons, with every regiment having at least one Commissar attached to it, and likely more. Commissars are also normally included in any General Staff grouping. Occasionally, one or more Inquisitors will also attach themselves to the General Staff, especially where the Imperium faces the Forces of Chaos. Although they are technically allowed to take command of any Imperial Guard force, most Inquisitors leave actual tactical leadership of such a force to its professional officers, only intervening when a situation requiring their particular expertise emerges. Other "civilians" who will operate in parallel to the Imperial Guard's chain of command are the numerous priests of the Adeptus Ministorum who accompany the Guard's soldiers and ensure their devotion towards the God-Emperor, and the Tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus who provide the required expertise to keep the numerous machines and vehicles of the Imperial Guard working. Last but not least come the psykers of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, the Astropaths and Sanctioned Psykers who will counsel the various officers and allow them to coordinate their efforts and face off against foes who also wield the power of the Empyrean. Warmaster An unusual command rank outside the normal hierarchy of the Imperial Guard is that of Warmaster, the Imperial general officer who serves as the supreme commander of an Imperial Crusade. There is rarely more than one Warmaster operating within the Imperium at any one time, due to the extreme powers given to them. The title was created in recognition of Horus' promotion by the Emperor to take his place as the supreme commander of all Imperial military forces during the latter half of the Great Crusade, after the Emperor had retired to Terra to begin work on his secret project to open the Eldar Webway up to human use. At present, the title of Warmaster, officially designated as "Lord Solar" (not to be confused with the Lord Commander Solar who serves as the commander of all Imperial military forces in the Segmentum Solar) is one of the most powerful ranks that can be granted to a general officer of the Imperial armed forces, including officers of the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy or even the Chapter Master of one of the Adeptus Astartes Chapters who is commanding a much larger Imperial Crusade force. The rank is officially second in the Imperial military hierarchy only to that of the Lord Commander Militant of the Imperial Guard, who serves on the Senatorum Imperialis as one of the High Lords of Terra and is the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard. The title of Warmaster is bestowed by the High Lords of Terra in the present Imperium only when an Imperial Crusade is being planned and resources from multiple Imperial sectors are needed. The supreme overall command designated by the rank of Warmaster is necessary as inter-and intra-service strife and bureaucratic rivalries might make assembling the materiel required and co-operating in the field difficult for officers of the different services without a clear grant of supreme authority. The rank is not available unless granted by the High Lords of Terra and it is the normal formulation to say that such an individual has been given his or her command by the Emperor himself. There is rarely more than one Warmaster operating within the Imperium at any one time, due to the extreme powers given to the holder of the title. Some consider the title of Warmaster to be cursed or a sign of ill-omen because of the ties of the rank to Horus and the Horus Heresy, the terrible galactic civil war that tore the Imperium in two over ten thousand standard years ago. This is one reason why the title is rarely granted, and why it is officially designed as "Lord Solar". It is also the reason why the Forces of Chaos now grant that title to the Chaos Lord who is capable, like Horus, of uniting all the many different Chaotic factions under the banner of Chaos Undivided in pursuit of the single goal of destroying the Imperium of Man. Regimental Officers According to the Tactica Imperium, Imperial Guard regimental command officers range in rank from Colonel to Lieutenant. In practice, however, the individual regiments making up the vast Imperial Guard are drawn from so many different human worlds and cultures that the actual name given to an officer rank can vary widely across the Guard. Regimental officers always hail from the same world as the troops they command, assuming their officer rank at the initial formation of the regiment. Providing a regiment with officers from its homeworld is an easy but extremely effective way to enhance an enlisted Guardsman's loyalty and morale. While the exact title of an officer will vary depending on which Imperial world his regiment hails from, the various regimental ranks are standardised as: *'Colonel' - The most senior officer in a regiment and the commander of the regiment. *'Major' - A Major usually serves as the executive officer of an Imperial Guard regiment, and the primary assistant to the regiment's commanding Colonel. This rank is not universal in the Imperial Guard's organisation and only exists in certain regiments *'Captain' - The Imperial Guard's Captains serve as Combat Unit Commanders, and can command either multiple infantry platoons bound together into a company, or multiple Armoured Fists bound together into an Armoured Company. Captains are the most common senior officers found in an Imperial Guard regiment. *'Lieutenant' - Lieutenants are the most junior officer rank to be found in the Imperial Guard. They serve as platoon leaders or as the leader of a single Armoured Fist. Non-Commissioned Officers Sergeants, Corporals and other non-commissioned officer ranks act as small unit commanders for the Imperial Guard, as well as providing almost constant oversight of the main body of Guardsmen within a regiment. They carry out any tasks assigned to them by their officers and are essential to the running of the regiment. *'Sergeant' - A Sergeant is a non-commissioned officer of the Imperial Guard who is either in charge of a single squad of 10 Guardsmen, or the tank commander for a single tank. Although they are often thought of as mere grunts, good Sergeants are just as necessary to the Imperial Guard's mission as good Generals, and some Sergeants have gained famous renown thanks to their bravery, resourcefulness or sheer resilience. Legendary Imperial heroes such as Sergeant Lukas Bastonne, Gunnery Sergeant "Stonetooth" Harker and Jarran Kell are all proud to hold the rank and that "they work for a living" rather than enjoy the privileges and pomp of the Imperial Guard's officer corps. *'Corporal' - A Corporal is a non-commissioned officer of the Imperial Guard who serves as a second and aide to his squad Sergeant. He will also serve as a section leader during patrols or on sentry duty when the whole squad is spread out or not employed as a whole. In armoured regiments, it is common to have the main gunners and drivers of all tanks promoted to the rank of Corporal, while the secondary gunners/loaders and the vox operators remain simple enlisted Guardsmen. This is done to denote the fact that main gunners and drivers hold the most prestigious positions within the armoured machine. It is purely a question of prestige though, for on the battlefield, a tank commander is his vehicle's sole lord and master. Enlisted Guardsmen The enlisted rank-and-file troops of the Imperial Guard perform a large variety of combat and support roles and make up the vast bulk of the Imperial Guard's forces. They are the grunts who ultimately get the job done for the Emperor. There are two kinds of troops in the Imperial Guard, namely the "regular" professional Guardsmen who have been raised from their homeworld and trained as part of the Imperial tithe and conscripts. Conscripts are those civilians present in an Imperial Guard warzone who get inducted into the Imperial Guard to replace losses for the duration of the conflict. Well-equipped but poorly trained, Imperial Guard conscripts are often used as reserve troops, manning static defence posts and secondary battle lines, allowing the Imperial commanders to deploy their best troops on the frontline. Creating an Imperial Guard Regiment While many regiments have long-standing reputations, forged by generations of predecessors across countless worlds, others may not be so renowned. There are countless millions of Imperial Guard regiments in service to the Imperium at any one time, scattered across tens of thousands of warzones. No one man knows for certain how many souls give their lives in service to the Emperor in any given year, but the hard truth is that more must serve to replace those who have fallen, which means that new regiments must constantly be raised. Thus continues the cycle; regiments fall in battle, and new ones are raised to replace them, or to begin new campaigns under the light of a distant star. As a result, it is important to make room not only for those regiments whose histories are long and bloody, but also for those who are newly mustered, and have yet to either gain glory in the Emperor's name or vanish in ignominious defeat. When creating a new regiment, a group must go through a series of stages, which are described in more detail below. First is the home world or origin, which defines where the recruits came from before they were chosen to serve in the Imperial Guard. Following that, a unit must select a personality for its commanding officer, which defines how the unit has adapted to the realities of war under their commander's authority. Finally, there is an assortment of doctrines, which represent the way a unit is trained and equipped. With some forethought and some ingenuity, a considerable range of regiments can be created by the writer, but the sheer variety of Imperial Guard regiments in the galaxy defies even the most comprehensive and versatile systems. A regiment with a greater number of, or more powerful, Doctrines (see Doctrines below) can easily represent an elite or veteran regiment, while a regiment with fewer or cheaper Doctrines is more likely to represent conscripts, a mustering from a world inexplicably untouched by war, or other less capable units. Choosing a Home World of Origin A regiment’s home world is perhaps one of the greatest defining factors in its structure and purpose, with different worlds producing men with different strengths and weaknesses, and differing natural tendencies. Even though some of the Specialists attached to regiments do not hail from the same home world as those they are serving alongside, the Departmento Munitorum tries to assign specialists to the regiments they will integrate with the best. Because of this similarity, all specialists still gain the benefits of the home world. Death World Guardsmen from Death World regiments have left behind the danger and ferocity of their home world. They are rugged, uncomplicated individuals for the most part, at ease with the hazards of the battlefield and the dangers posed by alien monstrosities. However, death worlders are slow to trust off-worlders, who cannot understand the hardships they have faced, and they often lack discipline, which gives them a reputation for unreliability in the eyes of more strictly-trained regiments. Death worlders are renowned for their ability to endure the worst the galaxy can throw at them, and exemplify the concept of survival of the fittest. While the majority of death worlders have learned to speak Low Gothic, they do not have time in their violent lives to learn how to read or write the universal language of the Imperium. Death worlders are accustomed to violence, and many death worlds contain a variety of deadly, venomous creatures. They must be continually prepared and wary of danger from a young age if they are to survive, and those instincts do not easily fade. Death worlders tend to be slow to put their faith in anyone other than themselves and their comrades, and they chafe at the expectations and strictures of more civilised society. Fortress World Imperial Guard Regiments from Fortress Worlds have been raised to serve in war, and by the time they reach maturity, they are well-versed in the arts of war and the doctrines of the Tactica Imperialis. Each has been long trained to destroy the enemies of the Imperium, particularly those whose threat forced their world to be fortified in the first place. Fortress worlders are disciplined, honourable, loyal, and with the highest regard for integrity, and each is already a proficient combatant long before they are taken to serve in the Imperial Guard. A fortress world often stands opposed to a single threat (such as the Forces of Chaos or a particular xenos race), and they are taught to hate that particular foe and eliminate it on sight. Due to the intensive training that each fortress worlder goes through from childhood, including extensive live-fire drills and gruelling mock battles they possess nerves of steel and will not break before a foe. Fortress worlders possess an entirely justified siege mentality, a natural result of daily lives shaped by the need for perpetual vigilance against an enemy that could strike at any time, and the discipline required to respond to that threat swiftly and effectively. Fortress worlders are loyal almost to a fault, and reluctant to disobey orders even with good reason, lacking personal initiative, and becoming inflexible as a result. Hive World Imperial Guard Regiments from Hive Worlds are one amongst many. Due to the colossal populations of hive worlds, musters from them tend to be large, sometimes numbering over a thousand regiments at a time, each of which may number as many as ten thousand men. In many areas of a hive world - not just the twisted depths of the underhive - murder, rioting, and gang warfare are rife. Constantly having to avoid (or take part in) such dangers turns the people into capable warriors and survivors, made nimble by the tangle of urban decay, wary by the dangers in the darkness, and gregarious by the mass of humanity that has always surrounded them. Due to the suitability of hive worlders as Imperial Guardsmen, and the sheer quantity of people on each hive world, there are a vast number of hive world regiments in the Imperial Guard at any one time. Hive worlders grow up surrounded by crowds, and they are used to weaving through even the densest mobs with ease. Hive worlders seldom endure the horrors of the open sky or suffer the indignities of the great outdoors. Whilst outside of an enclosed or artificial environment (such as a hive city, starship or similar), they often suffer from agoraphobia, due to their continued unfamiliarity with such places. Hive worlders are constantly alert for the first hint of trouble, be it a hivequake, a gang shoot-out, or a hab riot, allowing them to quickly detect danger and elude it, if need be. Imperial World Imperial Guard Regiments from Imperial worlds represent best the greatest mass of humanity. Their minds are shaped by faith and humble duty, their bodies honed by toil. While lacking the tenacity of death worlders, the unyielding discipline of a fortress worlder, or the unthinking zeal of the penitent, Imperial worlders are faithful, loyal, and adaptable, unconstrained by the focus of specialisation. Imperial citizens know that the proper ways of living are those tried and tested by the generations that have gone before. Horror, pain, and death are the just rewards of curiosity, for those that look too deeply into the mysteries of the universe are all too likely to find malefic beings looking back at them. Their naivety of the infernal can often times be a detriment to them. The general citizens of the Imperium are trained from birth to fear mutation, for it heralds the taint of Chaos. Penal Colony Imperial Guard Regiments from penal colonies tend to be ruthless, and opportunistic, the desperate conditions of their origin making them eager for any opportunity to survive for just a little longer, or profit just a little more from a situation. While ill-disciplined and commonly impious, the expendable, vicious nature of convicts makes them quite useful in the Emperor's wars. The resultant Penal Legions can be found in the harshest warzones, undertaking the most dangerous missions, with the promise of salvation in death, after which the survivors are imprisoned once more until the next battle. In time, the few hardened veterans, survivors of a dozen or more would-be suicide missions, become amongst the most dangerous and unorthodox units in the Imperial Guard, deployed to achieve the impossible or die trying. Penal colonists, whether criminals themselves, or the descendants of the previous generation’s scum, know well the way criminal societies operate, understanding the nuances of deception, loyalty, intimidation, and violence that characterise the criminal classes. Hailing from worlds where the black market is the only market, penal colonists are skilled at obtaining illicit items, whether to sell, on or for their own purposes. Penal colonists are ill-regarded by just about everyone else in the Imperial Guard, and tend to be viewed more as expendable fodder than as worthwhile soldiers. As a result, they are seldom afforded more than the most basic of equipment. Penitent The penitent are not those born of a single type of world, but rather those of a particular mind-set. While all the Imperium lives in the Emperor's service, the penitent are those who eagerly give their deaths as well. Willing martyrs all, the penitent fight to demonstrate their zeal or to show their contrition for the sins of the past. The penitent may be from Shrine Worlds, or the masses of pilgrims who cross the Imperium, while others hail from worlds where some ancient crime demands countless generations of absolution. In all cases, the penitent are savagely pious, seeking to bring death in the Emperor's name, or die trying. The penitent do not regard death in the Emperor's service as anything to fear, and face the prospect of righteous sacrifice gladly. So driven to martyrdom are the penitent, that it can drive them to take unnecessary risks, lamenting that they can only sacrifice themselves once. The pious spirit of the penitent is almost unmatched in its ferocity, and while their faith is closer to the violent ardour of the fanatic than the divine clarity of the Adepta Sororitas, it is nonetheless inspiring to behold. Schola Progenium An institution that has stood for thousands of Terran years, the Schola Progenium is nominally an offshoot of the Departmento Munitorum, though in practice its facilities are staffed by hard-line brethren of the Adeptus Ministorum. Housing the orphans of Imperial worthies, the Schola strives to ensure that children born to those of quality are neither abandoned, nor squandered as a potential resource. The Schola has many fortified facilities, scattered in secret locations across the galaxy. It is the belief of those who maintain these institutions that, through sufficient rigour, any youth of appropriate origins can be turned into a valuable servant of the Imperium. Each Schola Progenium facility is run according to meticulous strictures applied by Departmento Munitorum officials. The Schola's orphan wards must undertake a punishing daily routine of prayer, lessons, combat drill and chores that leaves them hollow-eyed and exhausted. The creations of the Schola Progenium are trained to be of unyielding will, of decisive action, and of swift mind. Service to the Imperium is an expectation, one their lives have been directed towards for the years of their tutelage. The harsh mental and physical discipline of the Schola Progenium produces fine officers and soldiers, none finer than the Storm Trooper regiment, which recruit only from the finest Schola Progenium graduates. Those that pass through the Schola Progenium are drilled each and every day by hardened drill abbots, and all are expected to defend the Emperor's domain with their lives if necessary. Every Emperor Day (Day of the Emperor's Ascension), all wards are assessed for aptitude, piety and dedication. Those found to excel in a particular area are split off into special classes, teaching them to become elite troopers of the Militarum Tempestus (Storm Troopers) or even Cadet Commissars ready for transference to the Officio Prefectus. Upon coming of age, most students are sent on their way, unquestioningly adopting the role they have been conditioned for. Those without the aptitude for a role in the wider Imperium form a staff of menials and guards who can look to the needs of their founding orphanage. A very few vanish altogether, swept away under the auspices of mysterious Imperial officials to provide altogether more secretive services to the Imperium, such as service to the dreaded Inquisition. Category:Guide Category:Imperial Guard